Apologies now for the long post, but without some explanation, few will understand what the point of this post is, and what I'm asking for. (Possibly not even then!)
Some of you may remember my previous software, SOF (Sends on Fader), which came about by filling a need that Yamaha digital mixer users expressed, being able to switch to Sends on Fader mode in Studio Manager. The program was very popular, so much so, that Yamaha decided to incorporate that same functionality natively into the M7CL and later Editors. Their implementation clearly works better since they were able to incorporate it directly into the editor rather than my external software method. However, users with the LS9 or earlier mixers can still use my software and do, and my software also has the 1-channel-to-many-mixes-on-fader function that doesn't exist on the Yamaha. Basically, though, my software wouldn't have been very workable at all if it weren't for the folks from the Pro Audio community that stepped up and beta-tested the hell out of it.
Since then, I've still been very interested in MIDI control and communication with the Yamaha Digital mixers and being somewhat of a power-user of their products, was looking for a way to expand on the Yamaha Scene management system. I made some software way back which did some things with MIDI control of the desks, but it was pretty clunky and didn't really do what I wanted. But I learned a lot writing that and other software, and as programming is just a hobby of mine between tours, it's taken me many years to write this new software for the Yamaha desks and to get it to the point of being fairly functional. It's different than QLab or Palladium in that it's only for Yamaha mixers, doesn't do it's own playback and doesn't control other devices. It's also a lot cheaper. (Free!)
I'm now reaching out to the community once again to see if there are any like-minded folks who have a need for more control over their Yamaha desks or are simply interested in doing more with their mixers. It's called YammieQ, and no, I'm not that excited about the name, but so far haven't come up with a better one.
This software in it's current state is certainly not for everyone. It's for digital mixing experts who already are very familiar with scene management, cueing software and who regularly run shows with multiple scenes and cues. It also only runs on Windows, so I know that immediately eliminates a good many of you! Furthermore, at this point the software is not even Beta ready, more like Alpha. I'm looking for help from people who are comfortable with Windows, know very well how to use Studio Manager or the CL Editor with their mixer, and are comfortable testing (possibly very) buggy software. Even more than that, I'd like to connect with people that find this sort of software interesting and useful enough that they'd like to contribute to it's creation by offering suggestions of ways to make it better, clearer, simpler and more powerful. Nobody has tried this software but me so far, so I fully expect the first testers to find some bugs right away, as everyone will have different ways of using the software that I'm sure I have never tried.
I'm sure at this point, most will have no idea what the software I'm talking about is for, so here's some highlights. Basically, though, it seems to me that this platform is powerful enough to do many things that I haven't even thought of, even though at it's simplest it just records and plays back MIDI. It's the control over that functionality that's taken the years of work so far!
If any of this sounds like something you'd be interested in and would like to help, please contact me at my website.
If there are general questions about the software, fire away here and I'll do my best to answer them.
Thanks for listening! ;-)
Some of you may remember my previous software, SOF (Sends on Fader), which came about by filling a need that Yamaha digital mixer users expressed, being able to switch to Sends on Fader mode in Studio Manager. The program was very popular, so much so, that Yamaha decided to incorporate that same functionality natively into the M7CL and later Editors. Their implementation clearly works better since they were able to incorporate it directly into the editor rather than my external software method. However, users with the LS9 or earlier mixers can still use my software and do, and my software also has the 1-channel-to-many-mixes-on-fader function that doesn't exist on the Yamaha. Basically, though, my software wouldn't have been very workable at all if it weren't for the folks from the Pro Audio community that stepped up and beta-tested the hell out of it.
Since then, I've still been very interested in MIDI control and communication with the Yamaha Digital mixers and being somewhat of a power-user of their products, was looking for a way to expand on the Yamaha Scene management system. I made some software way back which did some things with MIDI control of the desks, but it was pretty clunky and didn't really do what I wanted. But I learned a lot writing that and other software, and as programming is just a hobby of mine between tours, it's taken me many years to write this new software for the Yamaha desks and to get it to the point of being fairly functional. It's different than QLab or Palladium in that it's only for Yamaha mixers, doesn't do it's own playback and doesn't control other devices. It's also a lot cheaper. (Free!)
I'm now reaching out to the community once again to see if there are any like-minded folks who have a need for more control over their Yamaha desks or are simply interested in doing more with their mixers. It's called YammieQ, and no, I'm not that excited about the name, but so far haven't come up with a better one.
This software in it's current state is certainly not for everyone. It's for digital mixing experts who already are very familiar with scene management, cueing software and who regularly run shows with multiple scenes and cues. It also only runs on Windows, so I know that immediately eliminates a good many of you! Furthermore, at this point the software is not even Beta ready, more like Alpha. I'm looking for help from people who are comfortable with Windows, know very well how to use Studio Manager or the CL Editor with their mixer, and are comfortable testing (possibly very) buggy software. Even more than that, I'd like to connect with people that find this sort of software interesting and useful enough that they'd like to contribute to it's creation by offering suggestions of ways to make it better, clearer, simpler and more powerful. Nobody has tried this software but me so far, so I fully expect the first testers to find some bugs right away, as everyone will have different ways of using the software that I'm sure I have never tried.
I'm sure at this point, most will have no idea what the software I'm talking about is for, so here's some highlights. Basically, though, it seems to me that this platform is powerful enough to do many things that I haven't even thought of, even though at it's simplest it just records and plays back MIDI. It's the control over that functionality that's taken the years of work so far!
Stuff you can do with YammieQ
- Store/Recall things that are not saved in Scenes. e.g. Outport delays, screen colours, preferences, channel cueing, etc.
- Create “Macros” that will change a parameter or a bunch of parameters when triggered, e.g. from a UDK.
- Store/Recall single parameters that cannot be saved using the scene system separate from it's parameter group. e.g. Pan of a Mix separate from it’s level. HPF On/Off separate from it’s frequency. Eq On/Off separate from the EQ settings.
- Delayed actions. e.g. a parameter changing after a certain amount of time has passed after a trigger or changing a parameter slowly (i.e. cross-fades)
- Change one or many parameters from a single trigger. e.g. Turn off the direct out when a channel is muted, change the custom fader layout when a mix is cued, fade out the music and then lock the console, cue certain channels at the start of a scene change, etc.
- Recall settings without them being over-written when saving a scene. e.g. A channel is unmuted when you recall a scene, then you manually turn it off while in that scene and store it. Using the built-in Scene management of the Yamaha desks, if that parameter (channel on/off) is safed, it wouldn’t turn on when you recall that scene. If it’s not safed, it will be off when you recall the scene since you saved it that way. You’d need to recall the scene, turn the channel back on and re-save. YammieQ can make that easier by working outside the Scene Management system in the desk.
- Trigger from external MIDI. e.g. use a MIDI controller or a smartphone app to recall cues. Triggers can also be done from hotkeys on the computer.
- Only specific parameters that are in the cue will be affected when fired. Cues can be edited to remove or disable parts of the cue or add new parameters to the cue.
- Normally you would use the software connected to a Yamaha mixer, but Triggers and Cues can also be created offline using the console editor. There are some limitations to the console functions that exist in the editor, of course.
- Triggers and Cues are created by “learning” the parameters from the console or editor. From there they can be edited as needed. Very fast workflow.
If any of this sounds like something you'd be interested in and would like to help, please contact me at my website.
If there are general questions about the software, fire away here and I'll do my best to answer them.
Thanks for listening! ;-)
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